Flooring August-September 2015

august / september 2015

Resilient flooring delivered ASAP Resilient flooring joins Shaw’s 2015 In Stock program as Shaw's resilient offering continues to expand.

See page 34 >

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150 years

incorporating

FLOORS

august/september 2015 | vol 33 no 04 www.flooringmagazine.com.au

Industry News

Special Features

Regular Reports

FrontCover

06 Preference Floors has arrived

28 Entrance

24 Airstep Retailer of the Month: Contract Carpets, Trebarton, SA

01 Shaw Contract Group

32 Resilient Flooring

08 Posing the question of change

40 Timber & Parquetry

10 Hiring for our future

42 Carpet

12 Winners announced in inaugural Carpet Court Excellence Awards

54 Stone & Tile

14 Eco Flooring takes on Villeroy & Bosch 20 Armstrong receives PVC Stewardship Excellence Award

26 Training: NZ flooring apprentices applauded 48 Alternative Floors 50 Product Update 58 Business: EOFY or BOFY? 59 Exhibition Calendar Advertisers' Index

Flooring Aug/Sep 2015 3

News

Growing from strength to strength Makinex appoints Peter Maginnis Australia’s largest national flooring logistics specialist has been acquired by Perth based CTI Logistics Ltd. CTI Logistics is a listed company that has provided transport, logistics and business services to the Western Australia market since 1974. CTI was attracted to the transport and warehousing strengths of GMK Logistics and its reputation for great customer service. Following extensive due diligence, the transaction was completed and announced to the Stock Exchange on 10 June 2015.

“Being part of CTI Logistics will provide even greater financial stability to GMK Logistics and will give it access

to a range of support services and expertise within the CTI Group,” said GMK’s CEO, Derek Lightfoot.

Derek has confirmed that it will most definitely be ‘business as usual’ at GMK. “Whilst we are now a subsidiary of CTI Logistics, I like to think of it as a merger of two outstanding and complementary businesses,” he said.

“Both companies have been in business for decades, have strong family company backgrounds and a total commitment to customer service. This transaction is good for GMK Logistics, its employees and, most importantly, its customers.”

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Makinex has announced the continued growth of Makinex USA with the appointment of Peter Maginnis.

Peter brings with him a passion to provide the best equipment rentals, sales and service to construction companies, builders contractors and landscapers, following the same goals as Makinex.

Rory Kennard said: “Peter has been a great mentor to me in setting up Makinex USA, I am very excited to have him as part of the ever growing Makinex team. I am looking forward to working with him full time to grow the American arm of our business.”

Peter will be working from the new North American head office based in Los Angeles as Makinex expands in the North American and Canadian space.

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4 Flooring Aug/Sep 2015

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"Your Industry – Your Magazine"

News Preference Floors has arrived With an extensive range, reliable stock holding and quality service underpinning its offer, Preference Floors has evolved to be an emerging new star within the wholesale flooring distribution network in Australia.

With its head office located in Smithfield Sydney, Preference Floors is now providing a diverse range of hard flooring product options Australia wide.

The brain child of Sydney based Eddie Liu, Preference Floors has emerged from the existing business formally known as Homemirus.

According to Eddie Liu: “With our growth strategy underway the time was right for the business rebranding as Preference Floors to better reflect the core business and its broader distribution and customer base”.

Eddie Liu originally established the Homemirus Sydney based model way back in 2006, but the business today is a far cry from those formative years trading bamboo flooring.

Preference Floors now offers an extensive range of high demand and proprietary branded hard surface flooring options including KronoSwiss laminate, Prestige oak

flooring, Wicanders cork and the popular Verdura bamboo.

With wholesale distribution outlets located in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, Preference Floors is now ideally positioned to expand its service offer to include the growing demand from regional and country areas in those States as well.

As a part of its growth strategy Mr Liu has recently completed a number of company acquisitions. He said: “With all businesses, the success for Preference Floors will be built on the value the market places on its products and service culture.

“We will continue to invest heavily in our popular stock categories and build our human capital with experienced personnel to make sure are best placed to capitalise on the ever changing demands emerging from the retail channels and consumer trends.

“A broader Australian and New Zealand distribution footprint is a realistic goal and, with continual product selection and development, we should see a faster roll out of exciting products along with more effective technologically differentiated sales initiatives.”

FloorTek 2016 dates announced The American Floorcovering Alliance* (AFA) will host the FloorTek Expo in Dalton, GA 18 to 20 October, 2016 at the Dalton Convention Centre (formerly the NWGTC).

Exclusively for the flooring industry, FloorTek is a showcase of machinery, technology, suppliers, and services in the floorcovering industry. The event includes technology solutions, demonstrations and select educational opportunities for exhibitors and attendees

6 Flooring Aug/Sep 2015

across all flooring segments.

FloorTek 2016 will serve as a launching platform for new machinery, training and added association benefits.

A listing of exhibitors and seminar schedule will be published at a later date. *The AFA was formed in 1979 to promote the floorcovering industry. It is a not for profit association, promoting the industry’s products and services to the world, and educating the members and others through seminars, press releases, and trade shows.

New stock search webpage for Kenbrock Flooring Kenbrock Flooring has announced its new remote stock search webpage is now in place.

The webpage is unique in the resilient flooring industry.

The details regarding this system were released to customers in August and Kenbrock has invited all its current and future customers to use the new stock look-up system.

The webpage is expected to benefit customers greatly

in that it provides a fast and accurate guide to stock levels of Kenbrock’s products.

Stock checks can even be made after hours and stock enquiries can be sent anytime directly to the customer service teams nationwide.

Au AV st AIL ra A lia B W LE id e

Entegro Group adds Unnatural Flooring to commercial range Entegro Group has formally been appointed the exclusive Australian distributor for Unnatural Flooring.

This recent appointment further enhances Entegro’s strategy of developing a portfolio of flooring and surfacing products for the Australian market. As Phil Withington, Entgero’s Sales Director outlined: “Unnatural Flooring is another niche brand that expands our portfolio further, which now includes Flexitec Surfaces, Graboplast commercial flooring and our locally manufactured Comcork flooring.

Manufactured in Europe, Unnatural Flooring offers

FLOORS

the look and feel of natural flooring but with the practicality and durability of a woven sheet vinyl. Strong, waterproof, slip resistant and easy to clean, Unnatural Flooring is suitable for both commercial and domestic settings.

With 11 premium colours to choose from Unnatural Flooring can be used indoors or outdoors. Included in the range is the specially designed waterproof, slip-resistant and UV stable rugs. These rugs are very practical and perfect for outside areas such as roof decks, terraces and gardens, and indoors in kitchens, hallways and bathrooms.

LEGACY

LUXURY VINYL PLANK

OAK

LEAF

WIDE PLANK LAMINATES

An extensive range of popular European & proprietary flooring brands now available Australia Wide.

European manufactured Laminate from KronoSwiss, the newly introduced Wicanders Cork Flooring, along with our ever popular Verdura Bamboo and a host of exciting Prestige Oak and engineered timber options.

See for yourself why Preference Floors is rapidly becoming one of Australia’s favourite resilient flooring suppliers.

The perfect choice for competitively priced, readily available stock.

NSW VIC QLD SA WA

Smithfield +61 2 9738 1188 Dandenong South +61 3 9794 5111 Salisbury +61 7 3875 1688 Regency Park +61 8 8268 8010 Inquiries from WA welcome and serviced from SA or VIC www.preferencefloors.com.au

News

Dedicated websites for the Australasian markets Two new websites www. weldy.com.au and www. weldy.co.nz have been built for the local market of Australia and New Zealand to order and buy Weldy tools online, for delivery straight to your door.

Weldy AG started its business activities in 1997

to complement the Leister product portfolio with simple hot-air guns to serve the DIY markets. In 2007 Weldy enlarged its product portfolio by including functional plastic welding tools to serve the local requirements in China as well as to expand into emerging markets and

Posing the question of change As Choices Flooring continues to embrace change and push the boundaries across all areas of the business, they also don’t want to become complacent. In order to maintain the position as a progressive retail floorcoverings group, they acknowledge the importance to continually learn, develop and evolve.

8 Flooring Aug/Sep 2015

This August Choices Flooring hosted a national members meeting, which was themed around change, posing the question to members and alliance partners ‘Are you ready?’

Held over two days at SeaWorld Resort’s new conference centre on the Gold Coast, Choices Flooring’s National Members

into selective countries.

Since 2004, all Weldy tools have been manufactured according to the Leister standards for function and quality by Leister China. The location of Leister in Shanghai and its proximity to the key markets is a perfect match Meeting had a full house, with over 300 in attendance.

Hosted by none other than Hey Hey It’s Saturday’s John Blackman, delegates enjoyed a stellar guest speaker line up. Alongside presentations from Choices Flooring’s Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Lewis and Chairman, Shane Chillingworth, comedian and media personality Anh Do, Victoria Cross recipient Mark Donaldson, interior design consultant Kathy Demos, General Manager of Hearst-Bauer Media Marina Go and motivational trainer Derek Percival all challenged and inspired delegates to embrace change in order to be successful.

Platinum sponsors MJS Floorcoverings, Cavalier Bremworth, Signature Floorcoverings, Embelton

for Weldy to meet its customers’ requirements.

Today, Weldy AG has expanded its activities in China to develop, design and manufacture new products to enhance and simplify the customers’ needs according to its slogan of ‘simple. good. affordable’.

Flooring and Karndean Designflooring all took to the stage in live On the Surface TV broadcasts, which provided a great platform for alliance partner representatives to discuss their future plans with Choices Flooring members.

The meeting also facilitated enhanced networking opportunities for delegates, with an exhibitor showcase featuring creative alliance partner displays for members to enjoy.

To complement the formalities, the Choices Flooring Gala Dinner was a fun-filled night, which started with a pre-dinner Jet Ski show, followed by live music, photo booth fun, delicious food and a charity auction, with all proceeds donated to the the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Premium Floors’ recent national training roadshows

Karndean awarded another GreenTag certification

Premium Floors has, over the past month, been continuing its commitment to delivering information on new products and educating the industry on technical developments.

Its ongoing training roadshows are becoming increasing popular, delivering innovative solutions and demystifying technical issues of rising consumer concern or awareness like VOCs and changes to the recent slip rating requirements for steps and stairs. In addition to in-store training, the Premium national roadshow events play a critical role in providing retailers with relevant information on all aspects of hard flooring.

Another national roadshow is being planned for later this year.

Karndean Designflooring has achieved GreenTag LCARate Silver certification for its luxury vinyl designflooring products, which now offer eco-credit points towards GreenStar building projects.

GreenTag is a third party green building product rating and certification system.

It simplifies the process of identifying, comparing and sourcing products for their environmental credentials.

Karndean Designflooring already holds GreenTag Level A certification for low emitting volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and reduced exposure to pollutants, but this certification focuses on one particular area – a life cycle assessment (LCA).

LCA is used to determine the environmental and

whole of life (WoL) impact associated with a product; evaluating sustainability, recycled content and energy emissions.

“Architects, designers, builders and end-users are looking for more environmentally friendly project outcomes,” commented Dan Lovell, Managing Director at Karndean Designflooring.

“At Karndean we are fully aware of the impact manufacturers can have on the environment and make every effort to continually assess and improve our business processes to ensure we meet all environmental requirements and legislation without comprising on quality or performance.”

News Hiring for our future Kennards Hire’s annual charity initiative, Kennards For Kids, kicked off on 1 September.

Running throughout September and October, the hire chain is looking to make life a little easier for sick, injured and disadvantaged kids around Australia and New Zealand, and help them get the best start to life possible.

For over 10 years the family owned business has used the months of September and October to raise funds and awareness for carefully selected children’s charities by donating $2 from each hire to these worthy causes. Kennards Hire are encouraging businesses and families to get involved

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this year, after their most successful year in 2014 where they raised over $350,000 for kids in need in Australia and New Zealand This year Kennards will be donating proceeds to Stepping Stone House, Kids Xpress, Variety – the Children’s Charity, the Constable Care Foundation and the Children’s Hospital Foundation.

“We believe that every child deserves a fair start in life and the opportunity to realise their potential,” said Liz Ward, CEO of Kennards Hire. “This is my first year being involved with Kennards For Kids but it is a project that I have admired and I look forward to working closely with the charities to help break the negative cycles that can begin early on in a child’s life.”

Varie Coat sold and now operating from Brisbane Varie Coat Australasia Pty Ltd has been purchased by Wayne Pratt, former owner of Pratt Applicators.

Wayne has more than 25 years in the industrial flooring industry. He saw an opportunity in purchasing Varie Coat to help it diversify and gain market share as a decorative flake supplier and contractor in Varie Coat's traditional area of decorative

seamless flooring as well as expanding the industrial flooring sector of this company.

Varie Coat now operate from new larger premises at Eaton's Hill, Brisbane and offers a complete range of specialised flooring products Australia wide. The business also imports a full range of decorative flakes for the ever growing seamless flooring market.

SO UTH HED L ND , W

News Winners announced in inaugural Carpet Court Excellence Awards Top retailers, outstanding service staff and installers have been recognised in the inaugural Carpet Court Store Excellence Awards.

The awards were launched earlier this year to showcase and reward great teamwork and individual efforts through Carpet Court’s network of more than 200 stores.

State awards were presented at member meetings throughout July, with state winners going on to compete in the national awards, which were announced via live feed on 21 July.

The awards have two pillars: the Store Awards, which focus on outstanding teamwork as identified by head office, and Staff Awards, which highlight great work undertaken by individuals as nominated by store owners.

Carpet Court customers across Australia were also engaged to provide their feedback in the People’s Choice Awards, with the general public invited to vote for their favourite serviceperson and store within the network. More than 450 votes were achieved through

a social media, email and survey callout.

Carpet Court CEO, Andrew Brand, said the aim of launching the Excellence Awards was to reward great teams and individuals across Australia, with the entries and results a testament to the great talent within the group.

“The primary aim of the Awards is to encourage, acknowledge and award business and individual excellence within our ever growing network. It was an absolute delight to highlight our outstanding talent at member meetings across Australia.

“We are continually impressed with the quality individuals and teams who are great representatives of the Carpet Court brand as well as well-respected contributors to their local communities,” Andrew said.

The most anticipated award, Carpet Court Store of the Year, was presented to St Leonard’s Carpet Court (NSW) for its ongoing excellence and commitment to providing an outstanding service for customers in the area.

St Leonard’s store owner,

Mel Kahramanian, said the awards were a great new program and it was nice to be rewarded on a national level.

“I am thrilled our store was awarded Carpet Court Store of the Year. The team here at St Leonard’s works exceptionally well together and we pride ourselves on the great in-store experience we provide to customers on a daily basis.

“The Awards program is a great initiative and it’s programs such as this which makes us proud to be part of the Carpet Court group and to continually improve our business. All the other stores, especially in the NSW region, have been really supportive of our success and we have proudly displayed our Store Excellence Award in-store,” Mel said.

The awards build on the achievements of the Carpet Court Pathways to Success initiative, which was introduced in 2014 as a training program to empower each Carpet Court store with tools and systems to consistently deliver on customer expectations including service, value, range and in-store presentation.

CARPET COURT STORE EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2015 WINNERS Carpet Court Store Excellence Awards

National Winner

State

Store of the Year

St Leonard’s Carpet Court

NSW

Most Improved Store

Victor Carpet Court

SA

Best refurbishment

Joondalup Carpet Court

WA

Excellence In Commitment to Training – Store

Terry Harvey’s Carpet Court

NSW

Carpet Court People’s Choice Awards

National Winner

State

People’s Choice – Store

Terry Bros. Carpet Court (Young)

NSW

People’s Choice – Serviceperson

Daniel Prodanovic,Hoppers Crossing Carpet Court

VIC

Carpet Court Staff Excellence Awards

National Winner

State

Best Serviceperson of the Year

Diccon Riley from Indooroopilly Carpet Court

QLD

Rising Star

Katie Blair, Terry Bros. Carpet Court

NSW

Community Hero

Garry Hextall, Ron Maher's Carpet Court (Maryborough)

QLD

Excellence in Commitment to Training – Serviceperson

Duncan Reid, Bridge Carpet Court

SA

Best Installer of the Year

Charlie Farrugia, Melton Carpet Court

VIC

12 Flooring Aug/Sep 2015

Laticrete Australia continues to grow Neil Warden has been appointed as the Laticrete Australia National Specialty Products Division Sales Manager.

Neil has been in sales, specification and business development roles for 19 years, predominantly in the flooring, coatings, architectural, and construction and building sectors. Neil also brings global experience having worked in several overseas markets.

“Neil Warden is a fitter and turner by trade, having completed his apprenticeship and studied mechanical engineering after school.

Neil has six years sales management experience with a further 13 years in business development and management roles with technical and specification sales to the construction, architectural and trade sectors, specialising in the flooring, coating and building sectors.

This makes Neil a perfect fit for the Laticrete team” according to Emma Tschannen.

As the National SPD Sales Manager, Neil will focus on developing sales strategies and formulating business plans, building and driving the Specialty Products Division forward in Australia.

Heartridge laminate longboard planks are available in an impressive 2.26 metres in length.

The additional plank length will add a sense of space in any room, creating an architectural charm which is certain to stand the test of time.

Find out more at heartridge.com.au or call 1800 622 293

Home is where the heart is

News Eco Flooring takes on Villeroy & Boch Eco Flooring Systems, a bamboo flooring specialist since 1996, has been named the exclusive distributor of Villeroy & Boch laminate flooring line across Australia.

Villeroy & Boch has launched its high-quality Flooring Line with four collections – Country,

Contemporary, Heritage and Cosmopolitan – comprising a total of 22 decors suitable for both classic and modern interiors. The licensee for the Villeroy & Boch Flooring Line is the Swiss Krono Group, which is producing the laminate floors at its plants in Germany, Poland, Russia and Switzerland.

IBS moves to new premises

Kennards Hire kiwi presence grows Kennards Hire has provided New Zealanders with the equipment and know-how to get the job done for over three years. Now, thanks to a recent merger with GI Hire, residents and workers in Panmure will benefit from the presence of their very own Kennards Hire branch.

Customers who know the GI Hire team will be pleased

14 Flooring Aug/Sep 2015

to hear that the friendly faces behind the counter will stay the same with the inclusion of Kennards Hire’s state-of-the-art equipment and a new sign above the door. Kennards Hire will work with existing GI Hire staff to ensure that it’s business as usual in the old GI Hire facility in Panmure.

International Building Supplier (IBS) has expanded into larger new premises in Sir Joseph Banks Street, Botany, NSW. IBS stocks a range of Terrco floor grinders as well as all the grinding accessories for both Terrco and hand grinders. All the hand grinder accessories comply with the ISO 9002 safety standard.

“We also stock a full range of ‘green’ sealers, cleaners, strippers and densifiers from the leading manufactures.

These include Vexcon, Multi Clean, Padco and RJSC,” explained IBS’ Ivan Imerman.

“We sell green sealers and strippers for concrete,

terrazzo, marble, travertine, ceramic tiles and vinyl as well as Non Slip Tough Grip and Shower Grip as well as the new Tough Top sealer for concrete bench tops.”

Ivan has had decades of experience in concrete and sealing solutions for all surfaces. He holds professional polished concrete courses four times a year including the one to be held on 28, 29 and 30 September 2015.

With limited space of 10 per course, the demand is high but the small numbers allow Ivan can give all attendees his personal attention.

New website launch Along with consumers who constantly update their décor to keep up with the latest interior trends, Choices Flooring has redesigned its website to give it a fresh new look.

Attracting over half a million new visitors each year, the new look choicesflooring.com.au provides both inspiration and advice, to help them find the floor they’ve been searching for.

Choices Flooring’s contemporary new website design provides the consumer with engaging and interactive content.

New developments include advanced search functionality, exclusive brand pages, 11 new room settings, enhanced flooring galleries, and over 200 blogs from Australia’s best interior decorators and stylists.

With over 80% of Australians using mobile devices over desktop computers, the new Choices Flooring website also instantly adapts to the mobile device consumers are using, so they decorate from the floor up and connect with their local Choices Flooring store anytime, anywhere.

News Three more stores undergo the Choices Flooring store evolution Choices Flooring continues to expand the amount of showrooms undergoing its innovative Store Evolution program, with Choices Flooring Launceston (TAS), Choices Flooring Centenary (Jindalee, QLD) and Choices Flooring Fairy Meadows (NSW) completing the stateof-the-art refit.

Choices Flooring Launceston owners, Lesley and Chris Smart, decided to undergo the transformation as they combined their two Launceston based stores in Tasmania to create a Choices Flooring superstore.

“Due to growth of our business, we had outgrown our old premises and needed somewhere that would allow for further expansion,” said Lesley. “The feedback we have received about this transformation has been overwhelmingly positive and we are certain that this move will take our business to the next level.’’

Choices Flooring’s Store Evolution Program aims to provide an unparalleled in-store experience. This is demonstrated by the showroom layout, inspiring product displays and use of the Inspiration Station, which allows consumers to visualise over 2,000 different flooring options in their own room images.

“The Inspiration Station has been a significant point of difference for us compared to our competitors,” said Choices Flooring Centenary owner, Kathy Reed. “We enjoy being able to provide a greater level of service to our customers, providing them with a clearer visualisation of their flooring options within their own room images, to ensure they find the floor they’ve been searching for.’’

The benefits of undergoing the evolution are also starting to pay off on the bottom line.

“Aside from transforming the store dramatically and enabling us to provide the highest level of service within the industry, our sales have also increased by 20%, which only reinforces the program,” said Michael Grehan, owner of Choices

Flooring Fairy Meadow.

With eight stores completing the Store Evolution within six months, and many more lining up, Choices Flooring Central Office has indicated that there is a packed schedule for the next 12 months.

Wood Flooring Summit at Domotex A striking new look, a wellstructured layout and a host of new products to see – that’s what will be on offer at the next Wood Flooring Summit as part of Domotex 2016, which runs from 16 to 19 January.

With displays covering everything from traditional wood parquet to other wood floorings, laminates

16 Flooring Aug/Sep 2015

and outdoor decking, trade visitors from every country and every professional background will be making the most of the massive industry presence to get an overview of the market and place orders.

Taking place for the third time, the Wood Flooring Summit is once again set to be the event of the year

for the international wood parquet and laminate sector, and a major highlight at next year’s Domotex.

Forming part of the successful Innovations@ DOMOTEX format, the new products from exhibitors selected by a jury of experts will be showcased in a series of stylish displays.

Many big-name exhibitors

have already reserved space at the Wood Flooring Summit, including Bauwerk Parkett, Kährs, Kronotex Meisterwerke Schulte and Unilin. Some 200 exhibitors from the wood parquet and laminate sector are expected, together with over 180 exhibitors specializing in applications and installation systems.

Australia’s

number one

Floor Coverings Retailer...

is coming to

New Zealand

For a strictly confidential discussion about the future direction of your business, please contact: Andrew Lewis Chief Executive Officer Mobile: 0400 400 036 Email: alewis@choicesflooring.com.au Jason Verstak Group Manager - Marketing Mobile: 0498 136 395 Email: jverstak@choicesflooring.com.au

choicesflooring.com.au

News Carpet Court welcomes two new stores Two new Carpet Court stores have been opened by Carpet Court ambassador Shelley Craft – Essendon Carpet Court in Victoria and Taren Point, NSW. Essendon Carpet Court will provide blinds and flooring solutions, including tiles, for homes and businesses throughout the greater Essendon area. With a dedicated team of flooring specialists, the new store offers valuable advice, superb service and expert installation.

With more than 10 years experience in the flooring industry, store owners, Ellen and Sean Osman have the skills and experience to tackle any flooring challenge.

Sean has worked in the industry as an installer for the last ten years and is going to be as hands on as possible with their new business venture, ensuring he is offering Essendon locals quality measures and installs.

He has handpicked the new team and will ensure they stay up-to-date with the latest industry trends, embracing new products and techniques.

While they’ve successfully run small businesses together in the past, the new Essendon store is the

Osmans’ first flooring retail store. Ellen said their decision to open a Carpet Court store was easy. As Australia’s largest retail flooring group, Carpet Court offers a large range at competitive pricing, something that the Osmans are proud to provide to the local community.

In its 500m2 retail space, Taren Point Carpet Court offers blinds and flooring solutions for homes and businesses throughout the greater area.

Boasting more than 10 years’ experience in the retail flooring industry, store owner Adrian Clegg, who also owns Kogarah Carpet Court, has the skills and experience to tackle any flooring challenge.

His new team of four full time staff collectively have 60 to 70 years experience between them. They have committed to staying up-to-date with the latest industry trends, embracing new products and techniques, to ensure they can share this knowledge with the Taren Point community.

Carpet Court’s National Marketing Manager, Natasha Gallardo, is excited to welcome both new stores to the Carpet Court family.

“While Ellen and Sean are new to Essendon and Adrian and is firmly established as a Carpet Court member, they have all shown a dedication to their local customers and are truly excited to provide an extensive range of flooring options on their doorstep,” said Natasha. “We look forward to watching the businesses flourish in the coming years,” she added.

Both new stores features Carpet Court’s unique Design Hub with Carpet Court’s 3D Design Studio, a revolutionary design tool that allows renovators to create

virtual 3D rooms to see which flooring option best suits their space.

The stores also feature an Interactive display screen – an LCD screen that provides a new in-store customer experience. Through the system, customers can view promotions and offers, watch videos and access design tips from ambassador Darren Palmer, as well as find inspiration through mood boards. The screens integrated WiFi system delivers content straight to a customer’s smartphone as they enter the store.

Taren Point staff Jack Wong, Sarah Gibson, Shelley Craft, Adrian Clegg, Katrina Chambers, Glenn Lynch and Todd Gilligan.

Flowfresh floors attain HACCP international certification Global resin flooring manufacturer Flowcrete Group Ltd has secured international HACCP certification for its Flowfresh range of antimicrobial enhanced polyurethane floors.

This certification means that food and beverage producers operating a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) based food safety program can specify flooring materials, safe in the knowledge that they will meet the relevant regulatory authority’s standards for safe procurement, production and processing as well as the

18 Flooring Aug/Sep 2015

requirements of the world’s leading quality and food safety standards.

HACCP International certification is a globally recognised benchmark of food safety, and as such is an important set of criteria for businesses eager to gain access to lucrative export markets. HACCP guidelines state that a seamless and impervious finish must be maintained at all times, even when subjected to a large-scale food processing facility’s intense working environment. Flowfresh has been specifically formulated to provide a surface that will

comply with food industry regulations for an extended period of time despite the sector’s inherently challenging conditions.

Flowcrete Group’s Technical Director, Grant Adamson, said: “Our polyurethane range has been able to achieve the HACCP international certification thanks to its ability to deliver a long list of strict food industry flooring requirements.

“To provide food manufacturers with a floor that goes above and beyond the highest food safety standards, we’ve created

Flowfresh out of an exclusive global partnership with the antimicrobials manufacturer Polygiene. A silver-ion based bactericidal additive is added into the Flowfresh material, empowering the floor finish with the ability to eliminate up to 99.9% of bacteria in contact with the coating.”

Flowfresh has also been proven to meet the ISO 22196 standard, which measures a surface’s antibacterial effectiveness.

The polyurethane system underwent rigorous testing to show that it complied with this internationally recognised benchmark of quality.

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News

Australian flooring manufacturer receives PVC Stewardship Excellence Award

Carpet Court reaches new milestone with blinds Carpet Court launches the exclusive Aria Window Concepts Collection as the group celebrates its new position as the largest blinds retailer in Australia with 147 stores now selling blinds nation-wide.

Designed to enhance contemporary and timeless interiors with both neutral and distinctive style options, the Aria Window Concepts Collection complements Carpet Court’s already renowned and design-leading flooring options.

The collection, most recently featured on The

Block Triple Threat, includes on-trend plantation ahutters, simple shading options and high-quality window coverings for simple functionality and light control.

Carpet Court National Marketing Manager, Natasha Gallardo said the broader offering of Aria Window Concepts Collection offers customers a tailored solution for any space and style.

“The range of new looks available as part of the Aria Window Concepts Collection boasts a myriad of textiles, design and functionality

offering our customers the privacy and sun protection they seek without compromising on elegant and individual styling,” Natasha said.

The new range includes: Roller blinds, sunscreen blinds, roman blinds, vertical blinds, plantation shutters, timber venetians and panel blinds.

Aria joins Carpet Court’s portfolio of designer-style carpet, laminate, quality oak, vinyl and bamboo flooring, as well as tiles, cementing Carpet Court as a one-stop shop for superior home design needs.

Voted NZ's most trusted carpet brand two years running

the carpet category was first introduced.

"At Cavalier Bremworth, quality is at the heart of everything we do," said marketing manager Desiree Keown. "We’re a proud New Zealand company that cares about our products and we stand behind what we make."

Results from the 2015 Reader’s Digest survey showed that the key words associated with Cavalier Bremworth were durability, well known, quality and longevity.

"We’ve been making carpet for more than 55 years so we're thrilled that Kiwis have recognised our efforts once again to make the very best carpet in New Zealand," she said.

Feedback from the 2015 survey was very supportive and included: "Seems to always have good things said about it by those who have bought it."

"Never let me down."

"Beautiful carpet, good brand."

Cavalier Bremworth has again been voted the Most Trusted Carpet Brand in the 2015 Readers Digest consumer survey. The company also won the title last year when

20 Flooring Aug/Sep 2015

For the third year in a row Armstrong World Industries (Australia) Pty Ltd, Australia’s only manufacturer of commercial vinyl flooring was awarded the Vinyl Council of Australia’s PVC Stewardship Excellence Award.

This award recognises and celebrates excellence in achieving the aims of the Product Stewardship program, which is an ongoing, long-term, voluntary undertaking by the Australian PVC industry to recognise, and progressively address, all relevant environmental, health and safety issues within responsible and deliverable timeframes.

Sophi MacMillan, Chief Executive of the Vinyl Council commended Armstrong on its commitment to the PVC Stewardship program and stated: “Three successive awards is a major achievement.

The commitments and compliance requirements evolve over time and are not necessarily the same from one year to the next so, just because you receive the award one year doesn't mean you'll get it the next time. Therefore, Armstrong has done very well, continually improving to retain it!”

Armstrong’s Strategic Marketing Manager, Commercial Flooring Michael Keam commented: “Since its inception, Armstrong is the only flooring manufacturer to have consistently received the PVC Stewardship Excellence Award each year, further demonstrating our commitment to environmental responsibility and local manufacturing”.

Need commercial flooring ASAP? Shaw Contract Group’s 2015 In Stock In Australia program delivers the largest choice of flooring designs that can be at your door and on the floor ASAP. Choose from carpet tile and hard surface collections in stock now from Perth to

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Contact us to find out more or to order any of our In Stock samples today.

Australia 1800 556 302 shawcontractgroup.com.au

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Business

Long live life balance Not so long ago the world ran like this. Most of us left home for our daily commute to complete eight or so hours at work, then to return and enjoy our evenings relaxing, reading a book or watching television, leaving behind the stresses and deadlines of the working day.

That’s how we managed to stay balanced. We had our own personal time to recharge, take a break and refresh before the next working day. Whether we were aware of it or not, this way of life delivered us our much needed daily dose of wellbeing.

These days our "always on" technology, longer working hours, late night conference calls and endless emails have blurred when work starts and when it finishes. The

home has literally become an extension of the office.

For most of us, work-life balance has simply become a myth.

But that is why it is more important than ever before that employers and employees work together to find effective ways to find balance in our lives.

Nigel Hobbs, CEO and founder of Welnis Labs – a workplace wellness specialist said: “Workplaces are increasingly embracing wellness as a key part of keeping employees happy, healthy and productive. Activity based working, wellness programs and healthy work ethics are delivering significant results for both employees and the organisation”.

“But we also need to look at how we work and how we

empower employees to design their ideal life strategies to deliver results for their work life as well as their life outside of work. We need to move towards designing a holistic model that benefits both work and life at the same time."

In his book “The Best Place To Work – The Art And Science Of Creating An Extraordinary Workplace”, Ron Friedman discusses the fact that granting employees more control over their schedules actually produces higher levels of quality work and loyalty to the company.

And why is this?

Flexible work schedules allow employees to deal with personal matters in their lives and then bring their sharpest focus to work matters. That’s why workplace flexibility has been

linked to a large number of wellness outcomes benefiting both personal and work life.

If we are happy to allow work to interrupt our personal lives – why can we not allow our personal time to interrupt our work?

So isn’t it time that we embraced increasing flexibility not only in our work lives but our personal lives as well and deliver the new and improved version of work-life balance… let’s just call it life balance.

Welnis is a specialised wellness consultancy firm focused on interiors and the built environment across a wide range of sectors. Its focus is to ensure that wellness elements and protocols are at the forefront of design and construction to enhance human health and wellbeing.

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For a strictly confidential discussion about the future direction of your business, please contact: Andrew Lewis Chief Executive Officer Mobile: 0400 400 036 Email: alewis@choicesflooring.com.au

Tim Drew Group Manager - Retail Development Mobile: 0425 751 756 Email: tdrew@choicesflooring.com.au

www.sterlingsupplies.com.au choicesflooring.com.au

Retailer of the month

Covering the full spectrum of flooring Contract Carpets, Thebarton, South Australia

Contract Carpets and Armadillo warehouses and offices

C

ontract Carpets is a successful group of businesses in South Australia that covers the full spectrum of the flooring and floorcoverings industry from concrete grinding and polishing to the design and the sale of one-off high end rugs as well as everything in between.

The original business was started 1988 in a small office and a “stupidly large warehouse” in the old west end of Adelaide.

After several moves, the business eventually settled in Thebarton, on the edge of the city square, where it is today.

Current owner, Kai Pottharst joined the business six months after its inception.

“I started out in the industry as a part time domestic installer, about 30 years ago, whilst completing my university degree,” explained Kai. “I was then offered the chance to buy into the newly created Contract Carpets.

“At that time I had just started another degree part time in architecture but, as the business started

snowballing, I eventually gave up the architecture degree to focus full time on the Contract Carpets business.

“We started in the small to medium commercial market then progressed to the large commercial market where to date we have completed many multi-storey buildings in the CBD. We now find ourselves in the position where we are called upon to provide the flooring for many high end projects such as the new Royal Adelaide Hospital.”

Contract Carpets currently specialises in carpet, vinyl, timber and sub-floor preparation as well as Altro White Rock wall cladding, concrete grinding and polishing and Quartz Carpet – an innovative hand trowelled flooring product.

In September 1998 disaster struck the business when the company’s premises burnt to the ground. However, all was not completely lost and, with the help of his dedicated staff and many very helpful manufacturers and suppliers, they were able resurrected the "phoenix".

Kai Pottharst

Hillside store

24 Flooring Aug/Sep 2015

Burners Mt Barker

As a consequence of the fire, the first new domestic carpet store Kai created was named Carpet Burners, which went on to become became Burners Carpet Court Mt. Barker.

“Realising the ups and downs in our industry I decided to open up some domestic retail stores, two of which have since become Carpet Court branded stores – Hillside Carpet Court and the aforementioned Burners Carpet Court Mt. Barker,” said Kai. “The third store – Terrace Floors and Furnishings – is a high-end carpet, rugs, furniture and soft furnishings store, which is extremely capably run buy my wife Sally.

“Sally has also started a successful custom rug, design, manufacture and wholesale business called Armadillo and we also have a concrete grinding and polishing business

Terrace store

called SmoothGrind, which also handles our floor preparation requirements.”

When asked how he has managed to build up such a variety of successful flooring businesses, Kai explained: “I have always placed particular emphasis on service and quality and my staff don't let me down. With the high demands of quality and value I am very thankful I have a great bunch of hard working and loyal staff across all the businesses.

“I want people to be satisfied and come back to us, or recommend us to their family and friends.

“We are also very much industry driven and pride our selves on adapting to change.

While we have been bitten a few times on the very competitive commercial side of the business, I believe our resilience is strong.”

Inside Terrace Floors and Furnishings

Sally Pottharst and Terrace Floors and Furnishings staff.

…AIRSTEP UNDERLAY …“THAT’S CONFIDENCE” www.airstep.com.au • Bonded Foam Underlays • High quality Natural Rubber Underlays • SBR Double Bond Commercial Underlays • Floating Floor Underlays • Recycled Textile Underlays THE COMPLETE UNDERLAY COMPANY Manufactured and distributed by AIRSTEP AUSTRALIA LTD, PO Box 166 Dandenong Sth Vic 3175 Ph: VIC/TAS 1800 803 545 NSW 1800 802 926 WA/SA/NT/QLD 1800 806 375 Fax all states (03) 9706 8553 In New Zealand distributed by

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Training

NZ flooring apprentices applauded The BCITO Flooring Apprentice of the Year Awards, held in Christchurch on 16 July, recognise exceptional performance by tradespeople in the flooring industry in New Zealand.

Coromandel flooring apprentice Stafford Moody of Fagans’ NZ Ltd from Whitianga won the Supreme Apprentice of the Year Award as well as being named BCITO Stage Three Flooring Apprentice of the Year.

Stafford, who is now fully qualified, is employed by Fagans’ NZ Limited. As part of his BCITO apprenticeship, Stafford worked as a flooring installer and participated in offjob training at the Allied Trades Institute in Christchurch.

The award was based on his performance undertaking a range of tasks at the Institute.

Principal Tutor at the Allied Trades Institute, Jeff Henry, said: “Stafford was well prepared for the course. Even in his second year, there were

occasions when Stafford would stay behind after the course to practise mitres and welding.

“He worked tirelessly to hone his finishing skills and always showed good logic with his decisions. Stafford has extremely high expectations and consequently all his tasks were consistently completed to a very high standard.”

Stafford was “stoked” when he was named the Stage Three Flooring Apprentice of the Year.

“It was a bit unexpected.

There were two other classes and so you never know who is there and how good they are, but I’m very happy with it,” he said.

Other award winners recognised at the event were: • BCITO Stage One Flooring Apprentice of the Year – Nathan Weston of Hays Carpet Laying, Hawkes Bay. • BCITO Stage Two Flooring Apprentice of the Year – Richard Blomfield of Van Dyk Installations, Putaruru.

Paul Williams, Ben Meister, Ruma Karaitiana, Chief Executive, BCITO, Stafford Moody, Nathan Weston, Richard Blomfield.

26 Flooring Aug/Sep 2015

• BCITO Flooring Planning and Design Trainee of the Year – Paul Williams of The Flooring Centre, Riccarton, Christchurch.

• Villars Trophy – a special recognition award for outstanding commitment and dedication – Benjamin Meister of James Henry Joinery & Flooring, Upper Hutt.

BCITO chief executive Ruma Karaitiana said the Flooring Apprentice of the Year is a great way of encouraging best practice among tradespeople.

“We are right behind initiatives that provide a benchmark for tradespeople and challenge apprentices to stand out from their peers and really put their skills to the test. The Flooring Apprentice Awards allow trainees to gain recognition in the industry.

“There’s currently a massive demand for professional tradespeople in New Zealand, so we want to encourage more people to come and train to be

part of this growing industry.”

The BCITO Flooring Apprentice of the Year Awards evening is the biggest annual get together of the flooring industry in New Zealand. Guest speaker on the night was Dale Williams ONZM, former leader of the NZ Mayors Taskforce for Jobs. Dale enthralled the crowd of over 200 attendees with his own story of his journey through life and achievements, which have all occurred because he originally gained a qualification in a field for which he is passionate.

This event was made possible with the generous assistance of sponsors Carr Group, Cavalier Bremworth, Dunlop Flooring, FloorNZ, Gilt Edge Industries, Handley Industries, Jaedon Enterprises, Karndean Designflooring, Look Floors, Norman Ellison, Nuplex Construction Products, Robert Malcolm Ltd, Sleepyhead Manufacturing and Techspan Group.

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The key to a great entrance Integra Vantt is a selection of architectural entrance matting that offers a stylish range of options to enhance any entry.

This innovative, stylish and versatile matting range features a flexible interlocking system constructed from alternating aluminium scraper bars and matting.

At the head of the Vantt range is the Vantt 7500, ideal for those that want the next level in quality and style, combining twin colour dual width strips to allow it to stand apart from the rest.

Vantt 5500 is the original and most popular of the Vantt range with its hard wearing reliability and a great variety of colours choices. The Integra Vantt 2500 offers the same

unique interlocking system of its two ‘bigger brothers’ but meets the requirements of the budget conscious buyer.

Easily shaped for a curved entrances or revolving doors, all of the Integra Vantt range is wheelchair friendly and has a highly effective scrape and wipe action to minimise the transference of dirt and moisture between internal and external zones.

The Integra Vantt 2500, 5500 and 7500 are all great choices for enhancing the safety and aesthetics of any entrance. The entire Vantt range is exclusive to Classic Architectural Group and is available throughout its network of dealers Australia wide.

n e a h m t ades r o F er Tr am rt S Visit your local depot to see our extensive range of Commercial & Architectural Stairnosings & Trims.

AVAILABLE THROUGH YOUR LOCAL INTAFLOORS TRADE DEPOT * Availability on certain products may vary from store to store.

Please contact your local trade depot for more details.

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QLD

Gibbon Group

VIC

NEW ZEALAND

Gibbon Group Newcastle: 02 4951 1002 Email: greg.gardiner@gibbongroup.com.au

Brisbane: 07 3881 1777 Email: sales@gibbongroup.com.au

Free Phone: 0508-882-288 Email: ncpsales@nuplex.com

Intafloors Trade Depot

McDonalds Flooring Accessories

Knoxfield: 03 9764 2400 Dandenong: 03 9702 7822 Geelong: 03 5521 6670 Preston: 03 9416 7878

Sydney: 02 8678 5479 Email: sales@intafloorstrade.com.au

Gold Coast: 07 5564 9999

NSW

TAS

Total Flooring North Hobart: 03 6234 9855

SA

Seal and Sons Adelaide: 08 8346 9833 Email: office@deseal.com.au

FIS Distributors

WA Kevmor Wholesale Trade Supplies Perth: 08 9277 7177 Email: sales@kevmor.com.au

Nuplex Construction Products

ResilientFlooring

Explore Gerflor’s new Texline range Gerflor has unveiled its latest range of luxurious Texline flooring.

Available in four metre widths, this textile backed and feature packed range brings underfoot comfort and fashionable good looks to any room in the home. Retailers around the country will find the latest Texline range answers the needs of design savvy customers with an eye for quality.

Gerflor Product Marketing Manager, Jutta Fronert said the range remained true to Gerflor’s style by weaving choice and inspiration into the colours and designs “From the grains of recycled Australian timbers to the playful influences of Portuguese

ceramics, this Texline collection embodies an international flavour to bring opulent luxury to Australia’s most beautiful homes,” Ms Fronert said.

The Texline range launch coincides with the roll out of a new consumer focused website that enables users to explore flooring options and easily navigate their way to the best products for every space, style and budget. It also presents options such as product thickness and surface treatments and provides price comparisons.

“We have designed it with a very clear consumer focus and really hope our retail partners and their customers find it a useful tool that is easy to use,” Ms Fronert said.

A quiet alternative The researchers, educators, clinicians and innovators at the Australian Hearing Hub are enjoying their new state-of-the-art facility, thanks to the collaborative work of Taylor Construction Group Pty Ltd and Geyer Architects.

An initiative of Macquarie University, the Australian Hearing Hub brings some of the country’s leading hearing

32 Flooring Aug/Sep 2015

and healthcare organisations together with research universities to collaborate on world-leading research projects.

Tasked with a brief to create offices in a shared working space, Ben Cauchi, project co-ordinator at Taylor Construction Group Pty Ltd, looked to bring the client and architect’s vision to life.

The design team opted for the soft blonde highlights and distinctive grain patterns of Providence from the Karndean LooseLay collection. Adding to the light wood interior motif, Karndean LooseLay was used to zone off different work spaces while retaining its open plan brief.

What’s more, the client needed a floor that could

offset noise and impact sounds in an open plan office.

Karndean LooseLay was the perfect solution as its acoustic backing reduces noise levels in rooms below and its 59 decibel rating is compliant with the National Construction Code for minimum acoustic requirements.

Ben commented: “The brilliant acoustic properties of Karndean LooseLay were a key factor in the architect’s selection. Across a multi-level building, LooseLay is a quiet alternative to a hard flooring surface.“ “In a design process, there can be changes at short notice.

Karndean LooseLay was a great solution for us going forward. It was quick to install and allowed us to get the job over the line to our agreed program. The client is very happy with the finished product.”

Introducing the NEW GENERATION of adhesives for installing Resilient and Textile Floor and Wall Coverings From the MAPEI Research & Development laboratories, the NEW GENERATION of adhesives have been developed to support the installation of resilient and textile floor and wall coverings. At MAPEI concern for the environmental impact of our products is a fundamental part of our corporate philosophy. MAPEI supply adhesives for installing carpet, vinyl, linoleum, rubber and LVT that are not only technically advanced but are also Good for the Environment and Good for the Installer.

The new range of adhesives are showcased in the following pages including a range of customised Installation Systems for your use.

Adhesives for installing resilient and textile floor and wall coverings

FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS, CERTIFIED SOLUTIONS FOR ECO-SUSTAINABLE PROJECTS WORLDWIDE

Our new resilient catalogue is now available for download from www.mapei.com.au. Alternatively, email sales@mapei.com.au or contact your local Mapei representative to obtain a copy.

The FREE MAPEI App is now available for quick and easy access via your smartphone or tablet.

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ResilientFlooring

Resilient joins Shaw’s In Stock program Shaw Contract Group’s new 2015 In Stock In Australia program now offers a selection of hard surfaces options.

Four resilient styles combined with 15 carpet tile styles deliver the industry’s most extensive range of stocked commercial flooring options.

According to Shaw Contract Group Australia National Sales Director, Aaron Martin, the addition of hard surface provides complete flooring solutions to customers.

“The new program has been designed to meet demand and market trends with more styles and colours than ever before enabling customers to mix and match from different hard surface and carpet tile collections,” said Aaron.

“The hard surface collections joining the In Stock In Australia

Grain

Pigment

program include Crete, Quiet Cover and the design focused Grain and Pigment collections.

“Quite Cover, Grain and Pigment all feature the In*Step Locking System, a fast, simple glueless installation system,” added Aaron. ”Encompassing over 250,000m2 of carpet tile and hard surface flooring options, a wide variety of styles and colours are in stock now.”

Beyond the In Stock program, Shaw Contract Group, as part of its running lines, boasts an everexpanding selection of resilient flooring options including a glue down version of Grain and Pigment.

“In addition to our vinyl tile products, Shaw also offers a range of heterogeneous sheet vinyl options ideal for large commercial spaces demanding durability,” said Aaron. “These include the timeless styles of the Coordinates collection and Naturelife collection,” said Aaron.

The Coordinates collection sees multi-coloured stripes co-ordinate with a variety of solid colours, providing

34 Flooring Aug/Sep 2015

unlimited design potential ideal for way-finding, accents and creating intimate areas within large commercial spaces. The collection features ExoGuard quartz-enhanced urethane finish, which protects against premature wear delivering easy maintenance. The collection also contains 20% postconsumer recycled content.

Boasting high resolution printing for realistic wood visuals, the Naturelife Wood II collection is engineered for exceptional performance in healthcare environments. This high performance resilient sheet flooring is embossed in register wood texture that makes the floor elegant and realistic and colourways offered feature a wide range of wood species and tone.

Naturelife also features ExoGuard to ensure durable style that’s both beautiful and built to perform in extreme conditions including under hospital beds and high traffic corridors.

Both Coordinates and Naturelife are FloorScore Certified for low VOCs.

PRODUCTS FOR VINYL GREEN STAR™ CERTIFIED SYSTEM FOR INSTALLING VINYL WALL COVERINGS 1 Wall 2 Adhesive ULTRABOND ECO CONTACT 3 Vinyl 1 2 3

MAPEI ADHESIVES RECOMMENDED FOR VINYL ULTRABOND ECO CONTACT Solvent-free contact adhesive for resilient and textile floor and wall coverings.

TECHNICAL DATA: Consistency: creamy paste Colour: white Waiting time: 30 min–2 hrs depending on application type Set to light foot traffic: immediately Ready for use: immediately VOC Content: 41.4 g/l Application: roller or small notched trowel Consumption: 0.15–0.20 kg/m2 per coat per surface Packaging: 5kg drums

Type of floor covering

Homogeneous PVC

Heterogeneous PVC

Multilayered PVC

Vinyl cushion floor

Vinyl cushion floor with textile backing

Standards

EN 649

EN 649

EN 651

EN 653

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Semiflexible vinyl (VCT) EN 654

Conductive and static Coves, dissipative profiles Loose-lay vinyl and steps vinyl tiles EN 651 EN 649 EN 649 EN 653 EN 652

Adhesives in water dispersion Green Star™ compliant ULTRABOND ECO V4 SP

•

•

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•

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ULTRABOND ECO 380

•*

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•

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•

MAPECONTACT

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•

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•*

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Reactive adhesives** Green Star™ ADESILEX G19

TESTED AND APPROVED FOR LEADING FLOORING MANUFACTURERS (including dimensional stability tests) Technical and Safety Data Sheets available from our website www.mapei.com.au Email enquiries to sales@mapei.com.au or Freecall 1800 652666 *Welded sheets only. **For non-absorbent substrates in damp areas and areas that need frequent cleaning; for floors subjected to heavy load and intense traffic

•

ResilientFlooring

Tarkett’s waterproofing revolution Tarkett has long been a leader in vinyl flooring being the first to manufacture PUR flooring and to offer Phthalate free homogenous products.

Now, Tarkett is proud to add another first to its list.

“In a major breakthrough, Tarkett has become the first flooring manufacturer to achieve Codemark certification on a range of vinyl floor and wall products that meet waterproofing specifications under the National Construction Code (NCC),” said Ralph Jorissen, Managing Director, Tarkett Australia.

Codemark is a building process certification scheme, managed by the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB)

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that supports the use of new and innovative building products. It provides a nationally and internationally accepted process for products to be assessed for compliance with the requirements of the building codes of Australia and New Zealand. Tarkett’s Codemark certification is significant as it means selected Tarkett vinyl products don’t require a separate waterproofing membrane when installed by a Tarkett accredited installer.

Matt Borg, owner of MKB Flooring in Sydney, has been using Tarkett products for over 20 years and has completed many projects with the Codemark certified range. “It saves time by allowing us to bond direct to a sub-floor instead of having to install a waterproofing membrane first. As this saves on costs to the client, being qualified to carry out jobs using the Codemark system means we win more work,” he said.

Tarkett’s Codemark certified products are used extensively across the world in major healthcare, hospitality, aged care and residential projects. Suitable for use in bathrooms, shower rooms, changing rooms, kitchens and wash up rooms, these floor and wall coverings are available in a broad palette of colours and patterns that can be coordinated across a number of spaces of a project. Tarkett offers a comprehensive range with numerous features to suit almost any application.

Target products with Codemark certification include Granit Multisafe; Safetred Spectrum; Standard Plus 1.5; Standard Plus 2.0; ProtectWall 1.5; ProtectWall 2.0; iQ Optima; Optima Multisafe; Primo Premium; Eclipse Premium; Micra Premium; Primo Safe.T; Aquarelle Wall HFS; Wallgard 1.3; Wallgard 2.0; Tarkett Weldrods.

PRODUCTS FOR VINYL GREEN STAR™ CERTIFIED SYSTEM FOR INSTALLING LOOSE LAY VINYL TILES 1 Substrate 2 Primer ECO PRIM GRIP 3 Self-levelling compound ULTRAPLAN

5

LEVELLING COMPOUNDS

EN 13813

C30-F7 A2fl-s1

4 Adhesive ULTRABOND ECO FIX

4

5 Loose lay vinyl tiles

2

3

1

MAPEI ADHESIVES RECOMMENDED FOR VINYL Type of floor covering

Homogeneous PVC

Heterogeneous PVC

Multilayered PVC

Vinyl cushion floor

Vinyl cushion floor with textile backing

Standards

EN 649

EN 649

EN 651

EN 653

EN 650

ULTRABOND ECO FIX Pressure sensitive, multi-purpose adhesive for the non-permanent fixing of vinyl/carpet tiles, carpet and carpet underlay. Can be used as a permanent adhesive if laid into wet.

TECHNICAL DATA: Consistency: creamy paste Colour: light beige Waiting time: 30 min - 3 hours once adhesive becomes transparent Set to light foot traffic: immediately Ready for use: immediately VOC Content: 13.6 g/l Application: N° 1 notched trowel or roller Consumption: 0.15–0.20 kg/m2 Packaging: 10kg drums

Semiflexible vinyl (VCT) EN 654

Conductive and static Coves, dissipative profiles Loose-lay vinyl and steps vinyl tiles EN 651 EN 649 EN 649 EN 653 EN 652

Adhesives in water dispersion Green Star™ compliant ULTRABOND ECO V4 SP

•

•

•

•

•

•

ULTRABOND ECO 380

•*

•

•

•

•

•

ULTRABOND ECO V4 SP CONDUCTIVE

•

ULTRABOND ECO CONTACT

•

MAPECONTACT

•

ULTRABOND ECO VS 90 PLUS

•

•

•

•

•

•

MAPECRYL ECO

•*

•

•

•

•

•

•*

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

ULTRABOND ECO FIX ROLLCOLL

•

Reactive adhesives** Green Star™ ADESILEX G19

TESTED AND APPROVED FOR LEADING FLOORING MANUFACTURERS (including dimensional stability tests) Technical and Safety Data Sheets available from our website www.mapei.com.au Email enquiries to sales@mapei.com.au or Freecall 1800 652666 *Welded sheets only. **For non-absorbent substrates in damp areas and areas that need frequent cleaning; for floors subjected to heavy load and intense traffic

•

ResilientFlooring

Karndean adds to Van Gogh collection Karndean Designflooring has expanded its popular Van Gogh Wood collection.

For centuries, wood has been the base material for furniture, cabinetry, flooring and other construction projects. Over time, natural wood undergoes a number of processes as it ages, and following trends seen in fashion and interiors, product designers are now looking to introduce these aging processes to new woods to give them a rustic, reclaimed and repurposed look.

38 Flooring Aug/Sep 2015

Following this trend, our twelve new Van Gogh wood look planks replicate the unique look that comes from

this transformation of wood over time through burning, liming and smoking.

The collection includes four lightly lime-washed Oak looks, VGW91T Tawny Oak, VGW92T Burgundy Oak, VGW93T Hessian Oak and VGW94T Honey Oak. Reminiscent of salvaged antique flooring, the rich grain details and its large scaled planks (48”x 7”) complement both traditional and contemporary architecture, and the larger size means reduced downtime and installation costs.

The collection also includes three unique designs inspired by American redwood railway sleepers – VGW99T Reclaimed Redwood, VGW100T Aged Redwood and VGW101T Salvaged Redwood.

A perfect foundation for any commercial environment, the new collection also includes three rich brown, smoked designs.

Incorporating fuming and smoking techniques that have been used by timber flooring manufacturers for years, the rich brown tones of VGW97T Burnished Beech and VGW98T Smoked Beech planks can be used as a

canvas – creating a rich and warming foundation to accompany nearly any décor scheme, whilst the striking variation of VGW102T Charred Oak makes more of a statement.

The new collection is rounded off by two of Karndean’s most unique plank designs to date, VGW95T Lime-washed Cypress and VGW96T Burnished Cypress.

Combining the limed finish of Honey Oak and the burnt effect of Charred Oak, these two designs are some of the most detailed and unique in the entire collection.

“Our new Van Gogh designs are our boldest to date. They are a welcome addition and reflect the trends we’re seeing for authentic and textured interiors for commercial applications,” commented Alex Stock, Head of Commercial Sales at Karndean Designflooring.

Available with a recently extended 15 year commercial warranty and R10 slip ratings, the complete Karndean Van Gogh collection will now feature a total of 32 wood designs.

PRODUCTS FOR LVT GREEN STAR™ CERTIFIED SYSTEM FOR THE RAPID INSTALLATION OF LVT PLANKS 1 Substrate# 2 Primer ECO PRIM T 3 Self-levelling compound ULTRAPLAN LEVELLING COMPOUNDS

EN 13813

C30-F7 A2fl-s1

4 Adhesive ULTRABOND ECO VS90 PLUS 5 LVT floor covering

5

4 3 2 1

MAPEI ADHESIVES RECOMMENDED FOR LVT ULTRABOND ECO VS90 PLUS Specifically formulated for LVT flooring. Rapid bond and excellent dimensional stability. Tested and approved for leading flooring manufacturers.

Type of floor covering

TECHNICAL DATA: Consistency: creamy paste Colour: beige Waiting time: 0–10 minutes Open time: 20–30 minutes Set to light foot traffic: 3–5 hours Ready to use: 48–72 hours VOC Content: 0.01 g/l Application: N° 1 or 2 trowel Consumption: 0.25–0.40 kg/m2 Packaging: 16kg drums

Water-based adhesives

TESTED AND APPROVED FOR LEADING FLOORING MANUFACTURERS (including dimensional stability tests) Technical and Safety Data Sheets available from our website www.mapei.com.au Email enquiries to sales@mapei.com.au or Freecall 1800 652666 # Must comply with AS 1884-2012. **For non-absorbent substrates in damp areas and areas that need frequent cleaning; for floors subjected to heavy load and intense traffic.

Standards

LVT (Luxury Vinyl Tiles)

Multi-layered cork with PVC backing

EN 649

EN 651

Green Star™ ULTRABOND ECO V4 SP

•

ULTRABOND ECO V4SP FIBER

•

ULTRABOND ECO VS90 PLUS

•

Reactive adhesives** Green Star™ ADESILEX G19

•

•

Timber&Parquetry

Making softwood harder Advanced materials scientists have developed a technique to make softwood tougher than hardwood and build in UV and termite protection.

The Flinders Centre for NanoScale Science and Technology in South Australia is working with the Australian company, 3RT, to advance the concept of strand woven bamboo (itself an Australian invention), which is now a common flooring material around the world.

3RT was formed to commercialise the research and the South Australian Government has provided $1 million to help the company develop a trial plant at Mount

Gambier in the southeast of South Australia.

The process, known as lignocellulose manufacturing technology, glues together offcuts of wood and then compresses them to create a new product that is denser, harder and more durable than

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40 Flooring Aug/Sep 2015

the original and has greater aesthetic appeal.

Strand woven bamboo, which was commercialised in China in 2006, achieves 2900 on the Janka hardness scale, compared with 1910 for jarrah and 1180 for hard maple or natural bamboo.

The second-generation technology can attain the same with virtually any type of timber and allows for costeffective manufacturing in high-labour cost countries.

“It is truly unique because it can transform timber waste or young plantation timber into products with both the visual appeal and the technical properties of tropical hardwood,” said 3RT’s managing director, Peter Torreele. “In addition, the products are termite resistant and fire retardant.”

These extra properties come courtesy of the nantotechnology and polymer science skills of Professor David Lewis and his colleagues at Flinders. The same techniques allow them to create treated pine without the use of copper chromium arsenate. Importantly, the resin used in the new manufacturing process is also environmentally friendly.

“The different process and different woods demanded a different resin to the what is commonly used with bamboo

and we were able to develop our technology around a waterbased alternative,” Professor Lewis added.

Professor Lewis was an advisor to the company behind the first-generation technology and immediately could see the potential to do more.

“We had ideas to do it differently technically and to design a new manufacturing process around it that would be economical in Australia,” he said. “We’ve come up with a range of manufacturing options where you don’t need as many people to do it and it’s more efficient and gives better quality control.”

The potential is to use small logs, rejects and early clearings from plantations to create hard timber products, rather than chipping them to create less useful chipboard, particleboard or MDF. The key to strand woven technology is that there is fibre the entire length of the product, which provides both the mechanical properties and the aesthetics.

Negotiations are underway with potential partners, with a view to commercial production beginning next year. There is already significant international interest, with companies from around the world sending wood samples for testing as part of the development process.

PRODUCTS FOR VINYL GREEN STAR™ CERTIFIED SYSTEM FOR INSTALLING SHEETS OF ACOUSTIC VINYL CUSHION FLOORING 1 Substrate 2 Vapour barrier#

6

3 Primer ECO PRIM T

5

4 Self-levelling compound ULTRAPLAN

4

LEVELLING COMPOUNDS

EN 13813

C30-F7 A2fl-s1

3

5 Adhesive ULTRABOND ECO 380

2

6 Vinyl floor covering 1

MAPEI ADHESIVES RECOMMENDED FOR VINYL

ULTRABOND ECO 380 Specifically formulated for installing vinyl. Strong initial tack, leg effect and extended open time TECHNICAL DATA: Consistency: creamy paste Colour: light beige Waiting time: 10–20 minutes Open time: 60–70 minutes Set to light foot traffic: 3–5 hours Ready for use: 48–72 hours VOC Content: 17 g/l Application: notched trowel or roller Consumption: 0.25–0.35 kg/m2 Packaging: 16kg drums

Type of floor covering

Homogeneous PVC

Heterogeneous PVC

Multilayered PVC

Vinyl cushion floor

Vinyl cushion floor with textile backing

Standards

EN 649

EN 649

EN 651

EN 653

EN 650

Semiflexible vinyl (VCT) EN 654

Conductive and static Coves, dissipative profiles Loose-lay vinyl and steps vinyl tiles EN 651 EN 649 EN 649 EN 653 EN 652

Adhesives in water dispersion Green Star™ compliant ULTRABOND ECO V4 SP

•

•

•

•

•

•

ULTRABOND ECO 380

•*

•

•

•

•

•

ULTRABOND ECO V4 SP CONDUCTIVE

•

ULTRABOND ECO CONTACT

•

MAPECONTACT

•

ULTRABOND ECO VS 90 PLUS

•

•

•

•

•

•

MAPECRYL ECO

•*

•

•

•

•

•

•*

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

ULTRABOND ECO FIX ROLLCOLL

•

Reactive adhesives** Green Star™ ADESILEX G19

TESTED AND APPROVED FOR LEADING FLOORING MANUFACTURERS (including dimensional stability tests) Technical and Safety Data Sheets available from our website www.mapei.com.au Email enquiries to sales@mapei.com.au or Freecall 1800 652666 # Please consult Mapei for specific installation advice. *Welded sheets only. **For non-absorbent substrates in damp areas and areas that need frequent cleaning; for floors subjected to heavy load and intense traffic

•

Carpet

wash transitioning colours to neutral in a seamless layout.

Available in 10 colours.

• Saturate tile: subtly mixes and merges on the floor in a svelte 23 x 92 cm plank available in 15 colours.

• Value tile: this 23 x 92 cm tile is a bold, expression pattern where hues overlap creating the illusion of pixilation and subtle colourplay, available in 10 colours.

Color at Work is constructed with premium Eco Solution Q nylon and EcoWorx tile backing, is Cradle to Cradle Silver CertifiedCM, completely recyclable, and manufactured with recycled content.

All carpet tile styles in the collection are GECA certified and achieve a Green Star ‘Level A’ product rating according to the Green Building Council of Australia.

The Color at Work collection is backed by a lifetime commercial warranty, protecting against abrasive wear, static build-up, tuft bind, edge ravel and delamination.

Color at Work Shaw Contract Group’s latest carpet tile collection, Color at Work explores colour in the built environment and how it directly influences our moods, our behaviours, and our work styles.

Achromatic palettes translate best in quiet spaces, providing calm moments of rest, while bold colours saturate space to define dynamic, collaborative environments.

Most spaces exist in a safe realm between these two extremes.

Well suited for corporate, education and retail environments, Shaw Contract Group’s Color at Work collection is a gentle push to embrace the bold.

42 Flooring Aug/Sep 2015

“Colour plays a significant role in our lives and in our surroundings – whether at home, work or play,” said Shaw Contract Group General Manager Paul McCosker.

“Subliminal and instinctive, colour creates a vibe and sets the mood, it energizes, stimulates and motivates and it helps us collaborate. Colour shapes our experience and as designers, motivates and inspires new ways of thinking about interior spaces.

“Color at Work merges fields of colour and pixelated pattern to create the framework for your open canvas. It encourages you to be brave with colour with its extensive palette of

possibilities,” said Paul.

Creative installation options abound with Color at Work with 23 x 92 cm and 46 x 92cm carpet tile products and because one size does not fit all the collection allows for merging and mixing of products, regardless of size or scope.

Products within the collection include: • Achromatic tile: the base of the Color at Work collection, this 46 x 92cm tile is available in five colours that combine an infinite geometric pattern in a dynamic overlay.

• Duotone tile: a largescale 46 x 92cm tile that combines saturated colour and subtle neutrals in an ombre

PRODUCTS FOR LINOLEUM GREEN STAR™ CERTIFIED SYSTEM FOR INSTALLING LINOLEUM FLOOR COVERINGS 1 Substrate# 2 Primer ECO PRIM T 3 Self-levelling compound ULTRAPLAN LEVELLING COMPOUNDS

EN 13813

C30-F7 A2fl-s1

4 Adhesive ULTRABOND ECO 520 5 Linoleum floor covering

5 4 3 2 1

MAPEI ADHESIVES RECOMMENDED FOR LINOLEUM ULTRABOND ECO 520 Strong initial bond, leg effect and extended open time.

TECHNICAL DATA: Consistency: creamy paste Colour: light beige Waiting time: 0–20 minutes Open time: 30–40 minutes Set to light foot traffic: 3 hours Ready for use: 24 hours VOC Content: 0.01 g/l Application: notched trowel Consumption: 0.25–0.40 kg/m2 Packaging: 16kg drums

Linoleum

Linoleum on synthetic jute

Linoleum on PVC cushion floor

Linoleum on cork

EN 548

EN 548

EN 686

EN 687

ULTRABOND ECO V4 SP

•

•

•

ULTRABOND ECO 520

•

Type of floor covering Standards

Coves, profiles and steps

Water-based adhesives Green Star™

ULTRABOND ECO 380

• •

ULTRABOND ECO CONTACT

•

Reactive adhesives** Green Star™ ADESILEX G19

•

TESTED AND APPROVED FOR LEADING FLOORING MANUFACTURERS (including dimensional stability tests) Technical and Safety Data Sheets available from our website www.mapei.com.au Email enquiries to sales@mapei.com.au or Freecall 1800 652666 # Must comply with AS 1884-2012. **For non-absorbent substrates in damp areas and areas that need frequent cleaning; for floors subjected to heavy load and intense traffic.

•

•

Carpet

Hand Drawn

Family-friendly, worry-free carpets Cavalier Bremworth has launched a new solutiondyed nylon fibre called Enduro – a new carpet fibre that is designed to let your customers enjoy their lifestyle, not spend their life worrying about the carpet.

It’s a specially engineered solution-dyed nylon with strong stain resistance and a tough construction that means it will stay looking good for years to come. It is available in a wide range of colours that will stay vibrant even under our harsh sunlight.

Enduro is designed to be easy-care and stand up to the rigours of family life. It’s been independently tested for wear and carries an extra-heavy duty grading for residential carpet plus a six-point warranty.

44 Flooring Aug/Sep 2015

Made from Enduro are three new worry-free cut pile carpets – Beltway, Limelight and Embankment.

Beltway is a sumptuous heavyweight carpet that comes in eight colours, perfect for those seeking a practical carpet that still feels luxurious underfoot. Limelight is also very comfortable and available in 11 workable colours while Embankment is a great option for families – especially those with pets and young children due to its lower pile height (friendlier for claws and paws). It, too, comes in 11 colours, giving them the ability to work with any style of décor.

These carpets are available in Cavalier Bremworth’s Habitat Collection throughout New Zealand.

Shaw designers swapped technology for the sketchpad to create latest carpet tile collection – Hand Drawn.

The collection examines the simplicity of hand drawn line widths, irregularities and imperfections along with various techniques that capture intimate glimpses of the artist’s personality.

The designers returned to the sketchpad, putting computers and devices aside they reengaged their instincts, returning to what shaped the design industry before technology.

Experimenting with a variety of tools, techniques and papers revealed all pattern inspiration within the collection, ideal for use in a variety of built environments.

Hand Drawn includes three 18×36 tile options and two co-ordinating broadlooms. All styles are available in 12 colours and boast a tufted weight of 20 oz. Products within the collection include: • Fine Point Tile: a small/ medium scale and multidirectional pattern; • Lineweight Tile: sends large-scale pattern in a new direction; • Stipple Tile: a sophisticated, organic aesthetic with a sense of imperfect variation; • Conte Broadloom: small scale pattern that injects movement; • Erase Broadloom: small scale pattern similar to Conte but with portions ‘erased’ for added interest; • Stylus Broadloom: a large scale double scroll pattern; • Erase Broadloom: a small scale double scroll pattern.

Hand Drawn is constructed with premium EcoSolution Q nylon and

the EcoWorx backed carpet tile styles are Cradle to Cradle Silver CertifiedCM, completely recyclable, and manufactured with recycled content. The Hand Drawn collection is backed by a lifetime commercial warranty, protecting against abrasive wear, static buildup, tuft bind, edge ravel and delamination.

All carpet tile styles in the Hand Drawn collection are GECA certified and achieve a Green Star ‘Level A’ product rating according to the Green Building Council of Australia.

PRODUCTS FOR TEXTILES GREEN STAR™ CERTIFIED SYSTEM FOR THE INSTALLATION OF CARPET 1 Substrate 2 Primer ECO PRIM T 3 Levelling compound UC LEVELLER 4 Adhesive MAPECRYL ECO 5 Carpet

5 4 3 2 1

MAPEI ADHESIVES RECOMMENDED FOR TEXTILES MAPECRYL ECO Ideal for bonding to all types of internal, absorbent substrates. Rapid and strong initial grab.

TECHNICAL DATA: Consistency: creamy paste Colour: light beige Waiting time: 0–10 minutes Open time: 30 minutes Set to light foot traffic: 2 hours Ready to use: 24 hours VOC Content: 5.9 g/l Application: N° 1, 2 or 3 notched trowel Consumption: 0.25–0.45 kg/m2 Packaging: 16kg drum

Type of floor covering

Textiles

Needle punch

Loose-lay tiles

EN 1307 EN 15114

EN 13297 EN 1470

EN 1307 EN 15114 EN 13297 EN 1470

ULTRABOND ECO V4 SP

•

•

ULTRABOND ECO 170

•

•

MAPECRYL ECO

•

•

Standards

Green Star™

•

ULTRABOND ECO TACK

•

•

ULTRABOND ECO FIX

•

•

TESTED AND APPROVED FOR LEADING FLOORING MANUFACTURERS (including dimensional stability tests) Technical and Safety Data Sheets available from our website www.mapei.com.au Email enquiries to sales@mapei.com.au or Freecall 1800 652666 Recommended for fixing floor covering over dual-bond underlay.

EN 649

Water-based adhesives

ROLLCOLL

•

Dual-bond underlay

•

Carpet

Top colours and textures in flooring this season As the purveyor of top industry knowledge on The Block and Reno-Rumble, Carpet Court ambassador Darren Palmer, is thrilled to bring his own design visions to life with the expansion of his flooring range – Provincial Lane.

Collaborating once again with Carpet Court, Darren has designed the new and exclusive collections to inspire renovators, home owners and design enthusiasts to achieve the same stylish look.

The recent additions include new carpet collections with varying material and piles ready for a range of budgets and styles.

46 Flooring Aug/Sep 2015

The range includes Charming with soft-to-touch texture, which sits strong as an entry level carpet collection, while Talisa Springs provides added warmth as a woolblend for simple elegance and extra comfort. The 100% wool additions include Creekwood, Montana Sands and Bakers Creek – all popular choices on The Block this season with interesting textured loop piles in trending neutral tones.

Darren’s Provincial Lane Stained Oak timber flooring collection also receives an on-point refresh with this season’s popular hues in grey colour. Responding to

increased demand for quality timber flooring, Darren Palmer and Carpet Court launched the Stained Oak option back in 2014. Inspired by nature, the nutty coloured collection has since doubled, with four further colour additions.

Darren says his selection of new textures and colours were influenced by his own design taste.

“The right flooring choice will set the design tone for any space. That’s why I always favour top quality, designer options when managing my own projects or coordinating product for my Provincial Lane collection. The newest

additions are no exception, providing home owners and renovators with high quality looks they love.” Darren said.

Overall, the new carpet and timber collections feature varying grey tones, light creamy options and dark stormy hues. For colour fanatics, a bright butternut stained timber adds vibrancy to a space while the blue additions provide a subtle colour boost. The new collections stay true to the signature grey-based undertone of the entire Provincial Lane range with carefully selected texture additions a priority.

PRODUCTS FOR TEXTILES GREEN STAR™ CERTIFIED SYSTEM FOR THE INSTALLATION OF TEXTILE AND NEEDLE-PUNCH FLOOR COVERINGS 1 Substrate# 2 Primer ECO PRIM T 3 Self-levelling compound UC LEVELLER / ULTRAPLAN ECO 4 Adhesive ULTRABOND ECO 170 5

5 Textile floor covering

4 3 2 1

MAPEI ADHESIVES RECOMMENDED FOR TEXTILES ULTRABOND ECO 170 Specifically formulated for installing textile floor coverings including between carpet and underlay. Rapid set with a strong initial bond.

TECHNICAL DATA: Consistency: creamy paste Colour: beige Waiting time: 0–20 minutes Open time: 30–40 minutes Set to light foot traffic: 3 hours Ready to use: 24 hours VOC Content: 12 g/l Application: Notched trowel Consumption: 0.25–0.50 kg/m2 Packaging: 16kg drums

Type of floor covering

Textiles

Needle punch

Loose-lay tiles

EN 1307 EN 15114

EN 13297 EN 1470

EN 1307 EN 15114 EN 13297 EN 1470

ULTRABOND ECO V4 SP

•

•

ULTRABOND ECO 170

•

•

MAPECRYL ECO

•

•

Standards

Green Star™

Must comply with AS/NZS 2455.1:2007. dual-bond installations, Mapei recommend using Ultrabond Eco 170 between carpet and underlay.

•

ULTRABOND ECO TACK

•

•

ULTRABOND ECO FIX

•

•

Technical and Safety Data Sheets available from our website www.mapei.com.au Email enquiries to sales@mapei.com.au or Freecall 1800 652666 • For

EN 649

Water-based adhesives

ROLLCOLL

#

Dual-bond underlay

•

Alternative

Under Armour store makeover The 669m2 Under Armour store in the Mall of America is a showcase for the company’s performance footwear, apparel and equipment. In early 2014, the company knew the store needed a polishable floor that could stand up to high traffic and complement Under Armour’s products.

“L&M Durafloor TGA was the perfect solution to get the Under Armour floor from point A to Point B, giving the floor owners a highly polished, decorative, durable, and easy-to-clean floor,” saidJeff Bonkiewicz, Laticrete SPD’s Channel Manager Concrete Arts submitted L&M Durafloor TGA samples to the owners, talking about the polishable topping’s decorative, exposed aggregate finish, its durability, and its low-maintenance benefits.

Under Armour management liked the samples Concrete Arts provided, and selected them for the job.

The Challenge

Polishable toppings are fast becoming a cementitious product of choice when it comes to retrofitting commercial and retail applications. These products offer highly polished surfaces, higher degrees of durability, and quick turnaround for floor owners. These wear toppings are great fits for placements in shopping mall retail stores, such as those found at the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN. With this particular job, however, the existing conditions, project timeline and site availability all proved challenging. The existing surface was badly cracked and in poor condition. Plus, the floor had an existing selfleveling underlayment topping that needed removal, ranging in elevation from 1.3 cm to 3.81 cm.

48 Flooring Aug/Sep 2015

The general contractor held Concrete Arts to a tight timeline – they needed the floor prepped, installed, and completed in a 10 day period, a large majority of which needed to be performed overnight.

The Laticrete Solution

Concrete Arts easily overcame these challenges through a combination of good planning and Laticrete products. Due to the uneven nature of the floor, Concrete Arts started by shot blasting the entire floor to a CSP 4. Despite this profiling, some of the floor areas were 2.5 cm to 3.81 cm higher within a 30.5 cm span, which made the topping placement difficult.

After the shotblast was complete, the crew used over four cases of L&M Restore concrete crack repair material to fill as many random cracks and spalls as possible.

L&M Restore is a fastsetting, low-odor, twocomponent advanced polymer resin designed for patching and repairing concrete. It has a very thin consistency and high bonding strength, allowing it to penetrate deep into concrete and create a tenacious bond for a permanent repair. It also sets quickly and can be scraped within 30 minutes to repair worn, spalled and cracked concrete.

After the repairs were done, the Concrete Arts crew applied DryTek epoxy primer to the surface and seeded it to rejection with coarse silica sand. The crew returned the next day, scraped off the loose sand and swept it all up.

DryTek is a twocomponent, high-solids epoxy primer applied with a sand broadcast for use with DryTek decorative wear surfaces and decorative polishable wear toppings.

The new L&M Durafloor TGA decorative topping was placed in two pours, with thickness ranging from 1 cm to 3.81 cm. Since their access to the job was tight, they hand-mixed 575 bags and used Hippo mixers to transport the material for placing. Even though job site access was difficult, the crew placed the Durafloor TGA within two days.

Durafloor TGA is a unique blend of cements, polymers, colour and mineral aggregates to be used to resurface and repair existing concrete surfaces. It combines the durability of concrete with colour and decorative aggregate to produce a high-performance floor with enduring beauty.

After waiting for 16 hours for the material to cure, Concrete Arts began to grind.

Starting with 80-grit metal diamonds, they took the floor up through the 1,500-grit step, using L&M Lion Hard densifier after the 400-grit step. The company applied translucent L&M Vivid Dye before the 800-grit step, and

locked it in with L&M Lion Hard. They then sealed the topping with L&M PermaGuard to protect the surface from oil and other contaminants.

L&M Lion Hard is a VOCfree, environmentally friendly lithium silicate concrete floor densifier, hardener and sealer.

This product penetrates bare concrete surfaces and transforms them into a permanently dust-free floor with a prideful gloss that gets better with age.

L&M Vivid Dye is formulated using extremely fine molecules of colour designed to penetrate and colour interior concrete surfaces. It is ideal for use with the L&M PermaShine polished concrete floor system, but can also be used as a base colour or touch-up for coloured concrete.

L&M PermaGuard is a lowodour, VOC-compliant topical sealer that effectively protects concrete and other natural stone floor surfaces from the damaging effects of staining, defacing and deterioration.

The grinding process took six days to complete.

Problem: New or Existing Concrete Issues?

Solution: DURAFLOOR TGA

™

DURAFLOOR TGA™ is a decorative polishable overlay for concrete repair. Offering an aesthetically-pleasing, abrasion resistant surface with the look of concrete, Durafloor TGA is a highly customisable topping requiring very low annual maintenance costs. n

n

n

n

n

A beautiful, exposed aggregate appearance Perfect for concrete repair Excellent abrasion resistance Customisable colour options An easy-to-clean surface

www.lmcc.com | 1800 331 012 A-1114-0715 LATICRETE Pty Ltd 29 Telford Street, Virginia, QLD 4014 1800 331 012 www.laticrete.com.au ■

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©2015 LATICRETE Pty Ltd. All trademarks shown are the intellectual properties of their respective owners.

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ProductUpdate

New waterproof laminate floors Australian flooring solutions brand, Quick-Step, has launched a range of waterresistant laminate flooring combining the durability of laminate flooring with the versatility and convenience of water resistance.

With its brand-new Impressive Ultra laminate floor range, Quick-Step takes flooring technology to a new level.

Thanks to a fully closed surface finished with a protective and fully waterproof HydroSeal coating on the bevel, the ultra-durable Impressive Ultra range offers a unique waterrepellent flooring solution. Water simply stays put on this unique coating, forming droplets that can be wiped off straight away.

Impressive Ultra can be laid in all the wet areas inside the

home including bathrooms and laundry rooms. Thanks to the Uniclic click system, the floors can be installed just as easily as any other Quick-Step laminate floor.

“Quick-Step developed a technology that presses the floor joints into the surface layer during production. And on top of that, the HydroSeal finish keeps out the tiniest drop,” said National Product Manager for Quick-Step, Kendall Waller, “What’s more, this cuttingedge technology uses the same material for both surface and bevel, making the floors anti-static and fully chemicalresistant.”

The result? Dirt and dust don’t cling to the surface, making the floor much easier to clean and maintain. As a

result, Quick-Step Impressive Ultra is perfectly suited for high-traffic areas, such as bathrooms, kitchens and entrance halls.

Quick-Step’s Impressive floors don’t just keep water out, they also offer a unique, authentic look. The edge is no longer a single shade that

closely resembles the floor’s dominant colour.

“Our innovative bevel technology ensures that the wood grain, colour and structure of the planks blend seamlessly, not only along their length but on the short side as well. The result is authentic and true to nature.”

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ProductUpdate

In just three days

New versatile nonwoven rolling machine During the upcoming ITMA exhibition for textile and garment machinery ETF will launch its completely new rolling machine type M 5728 for non-woven material.

The current version of this rolling machine was successfully sold for many years to mainly non-woven producers and to producers of carpet and artificial grass.

These markets proved that needs were changing so ETF decided to design a new machine concept in order to serve its customers better. The new machine is more flexible and suitable for a broader range of materials.

ETF’s imaginative engineering method resulted in a modular design of the machine. It can be equipped with many optional items in order to suit the specific customer requirements very easily. Another great benefit is the modular design making it possible to easily equip the rolling machine with additional options. Even switching

52 Flooring Aug/Sep 2015

between options without the need to (partly) rebuild the machine will be possible.

Some of the options the new rolling machine can be equipped with are: • a push roller system or a centre drive system in order to create tight and straight edged rolls (even when the web is slitted); • easily adjustable main rollers in order to be able to work with a big variety of tube and/or roll diameters; • an automatic tube dispenser and hotmelt gluing system in order to start rolling fully automatic without operator intervention; • and an optical length measuring system to measure with an accuracy of more than 0,15%.

ETF’s smart engineering also means that the rolling machine, including all of its features, can be offered at very attractive and competitive prices.

ITMA is held in Milan, Italy from 12 to 19 November.

Recently, Mat Shop was contacted by a large marketing company, which was looking for a solution for the Coke Small Can Summer Campaign branding initiative they were holding in Westfield’s shopping malls.

The only problem was they only gave Mat Shop three days to produce a three metre by three metre custom logo mat.

With normal lead time normally two to four weeks and a jammed packed production schedule after the holiday period, the Mat Shop team was really put to the test.

They say that necessity is the mother of all invention

Solution to a hairy problem Bosch recently launched its latest in cordless cleaning, the Athlet Zoo’o ProAnimal to the Australian market.

Equipped with Lithium-ion technology and cordless 1 Fibre pick up on carpet, as

– Mat Shop invented the high definition custom inlaid Logo Mat Tile system with heavy duty anti trip edging.

Matshop had recently taken delivery of a high tech cutting machine, which also came in very handy. This precision cut machine gives a crisp outline where the logo is cut out of the carpet tile and then inlaid into the background.

Westfield is notoriously sensitive to any kind of trip hazard so Mat Shop applied heavy duty anti trip edging and the end result was an easily transportable striking floor system for Coke to launch their new small cans.

well as the well-known Bosch SensorBagless technology and high-power airflow, consumers can now benefit from outstanding cleaning power and minimum filter cleaning effort.

Designed especially for picking up animal hair and dust the Athlet Zoo’o ProAnimal Brush ensures quick and efficient pet hair removal on carpet and comes with a ProAnimal Accessory kit for additional convenience.

With three speed settings for different cleaning requirements the Athlet Zoo’o ProAnimal is a lightweight (only 3kgs), easy to use and a powerful appliance from simple cleaning tasks at maximum operation time, to Turbo power for difficult cleaning tasks within a short operation time.

The Athlet Zoo’o ProAnima effortlessly picks up unwanted animal hair on all types of flooring for superior cleaning results.

■ ■ ■

©2015 LATICRETE Pty Ltd. All trademarks shown are the intellectual properties of their respective owners.

A-1115-0715 LATICRETE Pty Ltd 29 Telford Street, Virginia, QLD 4014 1800 331 012 www.laticrete.com.au ~Contact LATICRETE Australia for complete warranty information.

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Stone&Tile

Installing modern porcelain tiles: what you need to know The changes in surface texture and density of porcelain tiles in recent years have become challenging factors in the performance of the adhesive to bond these tiles to the substrates.

Whereas porcelain tiles used to be smaller tiles, the newer large format style tiles can have different mechanical properties in the sense of hardness, density, porosity and surface texture. This new matrix signature can create adhesion problems for low polymer thin set adhesives and poorly applied high polymer adhesives.

The new large porcelain format began appearing in 2008 and, around that time, Ardex noticed that ceramic tile adhesives previously used for fixing porcelain tiles were displaying de-bonding. The temperature and length of the firing regime can significantly alter the mineral crystalline phases and the structure of tiles. The modern version of porcelain is produced by a fast firing process at higher temperatures to reduce energy consumption, improve production efficiency and minimise emissions. Apart from improving production efficiency and reducing fossil fuel usage, these conditions alter the 54 Flooring Aug/Sep 2015

properties of the tiles compared to older porcelain tiles.

These new tiles have some common properties including very hard surfaces, high density, semi-conchoidal fracture on breakage and give a ringing sound when struck. They may also have heavily ribbed backs, high contact coverage of white powdery anti-blocking agent and a shiny slightly glittery and glassy appearance. On examination, it is clear the new closed, smooth and almost glass like nature of the tile back was preventing some cement based tile adhesives from obtaining a sound bond.

Medium polymer content adhesives are less able to create the mechanical key and do not have enough polymer to produce the required chemical adhesion. Ardex recommends that the higher polymer content of upper range C & R class adhesives is required.

Modifying the application methodologies and better understanding and selection of adhesive will help minimise the issues with installing these tiles.

With large format tiles, the primary difficulty is obtaining sufficient adhesive contact coverage and spread to achieve a strong bond and an effective load carrying bed.

When the adhesive contact coverage is reduced, the overall load capacity is reduced, but conversely the actual strains exerted on the adhesive bed increase.

The same forces exist (dead load, wind, thermal and moisture related substrate drying movements) but applied over half to two thirds the contact area means the adhesive bed sees a higher level of applied stress where it is in contact with the substrate on one side and the tile on the other. Ardex testing has found that when the contact coverage dropped to 80% overall, the test load to failure dropped by around 30-40%.

It is also vital to ensure the application of the tile is performed within the open time of the adhesive. Where the open time is exceeded, the adhesive surface becomes dead to wetting and bonding.

As a result, only sufficient adhesive should be spread to lay a few tiles at a time: the larger the size the less overall area should be spread.

Another consideration is the drying performance of adhesive and development of strength.

The non-porous barrier created by large porcelain tiles acts to delay the loss of water from

the adhesive as it cures. Whilst the adhesive might actually chemically cure, the matrix retains the unused water which, with a smaller and porous tile could be absorbed or diffuse out through the tile joints. Larger tiles have fewer grout joints and these are often very narrow (~2-4mm) thus reduced ability for drying quickly.

The result of this retained moisture is that adhesive does not develop full strength and behaves like an adhesive in a saturated environment where the actual strength is 30-50% less than the equivalent dry or equilibrium strength. This delay needs to be taken into account where loadings are critical from an early age and is a good reason to use fast curing F rated adhesives.

To combat these issues, Ardex recommends selecting flowable type cement based adhesives such as Ardex X78 and systems with high polymer modification. High end single part or powder/ liquid combination C2 rated adhesives have increased polymer levels and will therefore meet the adhesive coverage required on the back of a tile as well as having superior overall bond, strength and resilience.

56

TM

signaturefloors

We’re hiring!

Technical Manager • • • • •

Be part of the management team at Signature Floors Residential and Commercial Flooring Based in Victoria, however interstate applicants will be considered Resilient, Hard Flooring and Carpet Product Career growth opportunity We are a leading provider of quality floor coverings to residential and commercial markets, developed and designed for the Australian market by Signature Floors. Our product ranges vary from the latest innovations in carpet & contemporary vinyls for the home, to durable carpet tiles and resilient flooring for all matter of commercial applications and custom woven Axminster carpets designed for leading hotels and entertainment complexes throughout Australia.

As a key player in the Residential and Commercial Flooring market for over 26 years, we are expanding our internal management & after sales team and are seeking a Technical Manager who can lead and advise on all aspects of our business’ Technical area.

We require a person with a thorough understanding of: - Installation practices and Australian Standards - Subfloor preparation, moisture testing and adhesive applications - Acoustics The key tasks and responsibilities of this role will include: -- Advising Advising and and Technical Technical Training Training of of our our staff staff -- Managing our After Sales service department Managing our After Sales service department -- Technical Technical document document preparation preparation such such as as maintenance, maintenance, installation guidelines and warranties installation guidelines and warranties -- Managing Managing Sustainability Sustainability Accreditations Accreditations -- Managing key Managing key technical technical issues issues with with our our factories factories and and customers (both residential and commercial) customers (both residential and commercial) -- Process Process improvement improvement We are looking for someone who can demonstrate solid experience in the areas listed above, and show willingness to be proactive in our growing business. We want the best and are prepared to pay for it.

It is integral that you have excellent verbal and written communications skills, a stable work history, with high attention to detail. You’ll ideally be a good relationship builder (both externally and internally), highly organised & planned, and be self-motivated to achieve.

The Company is offering a base salary equal to your capabilities. As we said, if you’re the best, we’ll make sure we pay you for that. If you think you’d be interested in the position and becoming part of a dynamic, forward-thinking company and culture, please apply directly to robert.herten@signaturefloors.com.au to the attention of Robert Herten. Your application will be held in the strictest confidence.

Signature Floorcoverings Pty Ltd, 13 Wurundjeri Drive, Epping Victoria 3076 signaturefloors.com.au

Stone&Tile 54 Another method to combat this problem is to short cut the polymer issue by applying a suitable Ardex primer or bonding bridge to the back of the tile. Typically the primers are polymeric liquids so will effectively adhere to the back face of the tile and the adhesive they are designed to work with.

Another example of a method could be to produce a polymer rich adhesive slurry thin coat brush applied to the back of the tile and then placed wet on wet onto the notched adhesive bed.

The property of tiles will continue to evolve and so too must the installation process and products used to ensure a smooth, professional finish. Ardex draws on the expertise of a local and global research and development team that monitors tile manufacturing processes as well as emerging trends in the tile market. A result of this is innovative technology such as Microtec reinforcement fibres found in Ardex X77 and Ardex X78 tile adhesives.

A new destination for tiles Combining the very best in flooring and technology with a new in-store experience, Carpet Court is excited to announce the big reveal of its tile concept store in Rosebud, Victoria.

The new look store provides the region with a tile destination for homeowners on the Mornington Peninsula looking to introduce one of the latest looks in home renovation into their home.

Roberts Carpet Court in Rosebud, Victoria, reinvented

56 Flooring Aug/Sep 2015

itself after a recent store renovation in January/ February with a renewed focus on tiles. The store features three hubs – Carpet Court, Curtain Court and Tile Court – with the latter accounting for 200m2 of display.

Perfect for today’s open floor plan homes, Carpet Court’s tiles create a versatile canvas that seamlessly blends with any décor.

Boasting a great range of wall, floor, ceramic and

porcelain tiles, Roberts Carpet Court’s range of tiles is extensive.

Store owner, Ian Roberts, said the renovation and growth of the Rosebud store’s tile offering was a natural progression for the store and one that was made possible with the support of the Carpet Court range and group’s expertise.

“We’ve seen demand for tiles grow over the last five years with shows such as The Block adding to the resurgence

of tiles in the home. Large floor tiles in various hues of grey are in demand and we’ve even seen the introduction of a timber-look tile to satisfy consumers’ love of the floorboard look in wet areas,” said Ian Roberts.

“Being a part of the Carpet Court group has made it possible for us to grow our tile offering with on-trend ranges that our customers are genuinely excited by.

“The Rosebud renovation provided us with the opportunity to not only expand our tile range, but to think about how we present this offering to consumers. The existing space was completely gutted and refitted to suit the needs of our customers.

This was achieved through a better use of the space and the introduction of the Carpet Court Design Hub and interactive screens,” Ian said.

Roberts Carpet Court also has several Interactive display screens dotted throughout the store. Through these, customers can view promotions and offers, watch videos and access design tips from ambassadors Shelley Craft and Darren Palmer, as well as find inspiration through mood boards.

Esagono Decoro Hexagon from Beaumont Tiles.

Tips for using Black & White

Black and white gets a makeover Black and white never dates.

Every so often – like now – it’s bang on trend. Yet when it comes to choosing the right tiles in this cool combo, well, it’s not quite black and white.

Traditionally, black and white was used in a checkerboard design.

This staggered pattern can be traced back 2,000 years to the Romans and was re-ignited during the Renaissance as grand homes emulated the riches of that long lost empire.

Post war 1930s saw a resurgence of checkerboard in the lobbies and ballrooms of grand hotels – a fashion statement replicated across many home hallways, bathrooms and kitchens.

Innovation and the tile adhesive Laticrete is introducing an innovative, extremely high performance tile and stone adhesive to the Australian market that it believes will shape the future.

Among recent Laticrete technology pioneering achievements is its new

Wind the clock forward 80 years and black and white is trending again, with a twist.

This time around, according to Beaumont Tiles whose buyers scours the world for the latest trends, the palette features more startling geometrics, rustic treatments and subtle variations of floral halftones giving it flexible appeal.

“Black and white is a proven enduring colourway and a truly a flexible option for any space in the home,” Beaumont’s strategic designer, Rachel Gilding, explained.

“All colours go with black and white so you can choose a pattern that is, itself, the hero or opt for a more subtle design and then ‘ice’ with colour and texture in furnishings.”

345 Platinum – a one-step thin-set adhesive for interior and exterior installation of tile and stone, reduced thickness porcelain, quarry tile, pavers and thin brick.

345 Platinum provides long working time with excellent adhesion strength, flexibility and performance. Great for immersed installations, this high performance flexible cement based adhesive is non sag and high tack.

The Laticrete tile and stone range includes adhesives,

Pure black and white gives a bold high contrast that’s classic and timeless. Tone down the contrast, go decorative monochrome, and you have a modern country feel.

As a niche area, full feature floor, full feature walls or decorating a bath hob can speak of high design. Ms Gilding recommends tiling around a fireplace with a graphic pattern to create a focal point and a real conversation starter.

Choose between dramatic or subtle. Choose more black for dark and moody (this is trending in bathrooms at the moment) or white for light

and airy. Add black and white patterning to break up a look; for example, as a feature wall.

In a small space versus a large space go for a graphical floor and keep the surrounds simple in a small space. In really small spaces, try a nook.

The combination is so versatile you can try colourful contrasting accessories or play up the black or white tones. Matt black taps and shower fittings add drama.

For warmth, go for old gold tapware and wood.

For those stuck on making a decision, Beaumont’s Scan and Play design software (in-store and online) allows tiles to be ‘trialled’ in virtual rooms.

Beaumont’s Fusion Black & White Hex.

waterproofing membranes, sound and antifracture one-step adhesive, stainless grouts, tile cleaners and sealers. From the arctic to the tropics, from Brisbane to Boston, architects, engineers, builders and contractors have field and job site project proven the performance of the Laticrete system.

This includes typical residential

tile and stone projects as well as challenging installations in swimming pools, facades, industrial and commercial environments.

Flooring Aug/Sep 2015 57

Business

EOFY or BOFY?

By Sue Hirst, Co-founder & Director, CFO On-Call It’s that time of year again when everyone is advertising their products and services leveraging off End of Financial Year. It’s great to be on the ball with getting as many tax deductions as possible but what I want to canvas with you are your plans for Beginning of Financial Year, i.e. the one that started in July.

Presumably, if you’re in business, you want to achieve and improve profits. Here’s a checklist of what to focus on to ensure sustained and improved profits this year:

1. Sales/Gross Profit

Review sales and gross profit by product, service, customer, region, division, etc. to determine which ones you should be focusing on this year. Perhaps there are some you should ditch that are dragging things down.

Consider new opportunities available due to changing business conditions. Be a survivor of ‘digital disruption’ not a victim. If you aren’t comfortable with online/ digital marketing get some help in this area. Unless your business appeals to those only over, say, 65 you must get it together online.

Run a strategic planning session with your team or find someone to facilitate it for you. Brainstorm ways you can achieve sustainable sales improvements.

2. Costs

a. Closely review your business costs, e.g. are there ways you could achieve supplies more cost effectively and efficiently? b. Labour hours is a massive opportunity to achieve better productivity in a service business. Look very closely at everyone’s

58 Flooring Aug/Sep 2015

productivity level, i.e. how many hours they’re working are you able to bill to customers? Small changes in work practices can have massive impact on profitability. Ask yourself “Am I selling all the hours I’m paying for”?

4. Overheads/Net Profit

a. Closely review all your overheads and ask yourself these questions: Why are we spending this money? How does this expense contribute to the business and our profitability? Should we stop spending on this item? Is

"Be a survivor of ‘digital disruption’ not a victim. If you aren’t comfortable with online/ digital marketing get some help in this area. Unless your business appeals to those only over, say, 65 you must get it together online."

3. Pricing

a. Answer these questions honestly: How long since you increased your prices? Have you been too worried you will lose customers if you do this? Can you continue to suck up the margin squeeze created by increased costs without increasing your prices? How much more is your overhead this year compared to the previous two years? If you’re being squeezed by competitors you must fight back by lowering your costs to compete or by explaining to the market why they should pay more for your better product/service. You need to make the ‘invisible visible’ by describing what you do that makes your offering so much better, longer lasting or whatever is your point of difference.

there a more cost effective alternative or better way of achieving this? Should we seek an alternative supplier – if only to get current supplier to sharpen their pencil on costs? It really pays sometimes to create an environment of competition amongst suppliers. Don’t underestimate your value as a customer to them.

5. Customer Payments

a. How does the average number of days it takes to get paid by your customers compare to the terms you offer? Not many business owners really understand and/or appreciate the massive difference between these two numbers and the horrendous impact it can have on cash flow if the difference is large. Work it

out and set yourself a goal to reduce this number.

6. Supplier Payments

a. How does the average number of days it takes to pay suppliers compare to the terms they offer? If you’re not taking advantage of every day of the terms offered you could be creating unnecessary cash flow squeeze. It really pays to seek better terms from suppliers – particularly if you’re a big customer and they have plenty of competition for your custom.

7. Stock Management

a. How much stock do you really need to keep on hand at any given point?

Think of stock sitting in your stockroom as dollars piled up on the floor that could be used for other things, e.g. marketing, to get the stuff out of the door quicker. It’s so easy to get sucked into buying things in bulk to get discounts but if the stuff is going to sit around sucking up precious cash, you might be better to buy in smaller quantities. Consider ways to minimise the amount of stock.

8. Job Management

a. How much money do you have tied up at any one time in jobs in progress? Try to find ways to speed up the time it takes to get payment on jobs, e.g. through a deposit, progressive invoicing etc.

Set a plan this year to focus on these key aspects of your financial control to achieve better profit and cash flow.

If you would like some pragmatic tips feel free to download our e-book, The Seven Key Numbers that Drive Profit and Cash Flow.

Advertisers Index

Exhibitioncalendar

2015 Exhibitions

SEPTEMBER 2015 28 Sep-2 Oct

Cersaie 2015

International Exhibition of Ceramics Bologna, Italy http://www.cersaie.it/en/index.php 30 Sep-3 Oct

Marmomacc 2015

International trade fair for stone design and technology

Verona, Italy http://www.marmomacc.com OCTOBER 2015 15-18 Index Wall & Floor 2015

International tradefair on wall & floor coverings & claddings Mumbai, India http://ubmindexfairs.com 16-18 Canterbury Home Show 2015

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Textile and garment machinery fair

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DECEMBER 2015

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International Building Supply

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Mapei 33, 35, 37, 39, 41, 43, 45 & 47

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                                              



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





THE NAME  

